Goulburn waste operator on Agency radar

The operator of Common St recycling has previously attracted EPA attention for another facility.

PILING UP: The EPA says that while it's not illegal to have piles of waste visible to the public, it understands the Common St facility requires "close attention and regular monitoring."

The Environment Protection Agency fined the man who operates Common St waste recycling over another facility two years ago.

It follows last week’s $7500 fining of Chris Eveston for lodging late waste volume returns for the Goulburn site.

In November, 2014 Mr Eveston’s company, Citilight Pty Ltd, was convicted in Parramatta Local Court, fined $9000 and ordered to pay $10,000 in legal costs for illegally operating a waste transfer station in Girraween.

Mr Eveston, the sole director was also fined $6000 for overseeing the illegal facility.

During a survey three years earlier, the EPA found that stored waste exceeded the legal threshold by almost three times, the Agency’s director of waste and resource recovery, Steve Beaman said.

“While Citilight claimed the size of the stockpile was the result of fraudulent conduct by employees during the removal of waste from the premises, the company was given ample opportunity to reduce waste onsite to comply with the law,” he said.

Waste continued to build despite several clean-up and penalty notices. By 2013 building and demolition material had increased to 2500 cubic metres and was piled eight metres high, the EPA said.

Mr Beaman described it as a potential breeding ground for vermin and the company’s actions as a “disregard for the law.”

In September, 2015 the Agency again fined Citilight for breaching a clean-up notice issued after the 2014 prosecution.

Mr Beaman said the company was required to remove waste from the Girraween facility until it was down to 1000 cubic metres.

The EPA found it had not been removed at the required rate. Nor had Citilight furnished weekly waste removal reports, as ordered, or provided reasonable excuse.